Minors

The housing community: "Utopia Ilaria" and "Utopia Luana".

Our communities offer welcoming Accommodation, care, protection and education in Italian and foreign unaccompanied minors aged between 13 and 18 years of age, in accordance with the Regolamento Regionale Campania 4/2014, and in particular cases until 21st years of age with permission of the juvenile court. Are residential services whose operation is planned for 365 days a year with continuity of 24 hours. In each housing community is in service disciplinary staff includes personnel with titles of educational sciences, social work, clinical psychology, organizers and social workers supported by external supervisors.

Currently, the Community Housing "Ilaria" Utopia in Portici (Na) accommodates a maximum of six Italian and foreign minors unaccompanied males while the housing community "Luana" Utopia in San Giorgio a Cremano receives the same type of user but female. The latter structure is also specialized for the reception of girls victims of trafficking and exploitation, which prepared an accurate and shared recovery project, support and legal accompaniment when the children decide to denounce the exploiters, networking with the bodies.

Minors are placed by Social Service centres and/or by judicial authorities on the basis of administrative/civil emergency provisions, on the basis of socio-environmental surveys that show serious injury on the child, violence and/or abuse, State of alleged neglect, family distress and behavioural problems or, in the case of unaccompanied foreign minors, because found on the territory of the State without any protection and family support.

The work of the communities team is geared to achieving and maintaining a welcoming and familiar, basic element to contain instances of affective and social-relational guests. For all children individualized education quarterly is designed a project (EIP) by the team of the community, together with the reference of the child and the child social worker; the latter, in fact, has become the protagonist of their own plan of life which comes from time to time tested and designed according to the needs and wishes of the child. Constant and inescapable is the complex network work, with the social workers of the municipalities of residence of the child, the juvenile court, the local schools, the birth family and the different realities that come in various capacities in taking charge of minor. Depending on the situation, you programmed the rapprochement to the family of origin in various ways, from meetings with the responsible community protected and psychologist, at the exits of several hours and finally to the indentations on the weekend.

This work is critical to understanding the birth family and the effects that it has on the mental and physical balance of the child hosted. We also welcome children with mild or moderate disabilities cognitive responding to daily needs of care and socio-educational, rehabilitative instances and/or health care.

In the case of foreign minors, the education plan is strengthened because of the difficulties that characterise the migration path of the child and the team is flanked by a cultural mediator for the time necessary for the adaptation to the new environment, supporting the child around the insertion cycle that includes: procedures for granting a residence permit, document retrieval at embassies, international protection cases, assessment, recovery of Italian courses educational skills and abilities with obtaining the licence media and launching professional paths.

The purpose of the service are: to support the growth of minors entrusted to them, taking care of the affective and social relations; promoting social inclusion and integration (resumption of school and/or professional career, through, for example, training courses and employment placements); promote, where possible, the rapprochement and/or the reintegration into the family of origin, enhancing resources; foster care of self and environment, as well as the internalization of the values and founding principles of democratic coexistence; develop the ability to make autonomous decisions and accountable. Also pushing for inclusion in leisure and recreational activities – such as: sports, musical and theatrical performances. Minors guests also collaborate in the Organization of events for the promotion of children's rights in collaboration with the voluntary association Arciragazzi "Utopia Attanasio" Committee of arcades.

Over the years, the cooperative Shannara took more than 180 individual education projects have been completed. Among these, there was also the insertion of a detained minor (first case) under house arrest at our facility "Luana Utopia".